CASA volunteers provide support for young victims of abuse

As the Court Appointed Special Advocates program celebrates its 35th year in Missouri, a new graduating class of local volunteers soon will join its ranks.

Five students are spending 30 hours over five weeks learning how best to advocate for children in the custody of the state.

"It's a 30-hour national CASA training, and 15 hours of it is online," CASA director Linda Nash said. The rest is done in the classroom, three hours a week for five weeks.

Nash said the class covers topics such as what child abuse and neglect are, what's in a child's best interest, child development and how cases move through court.

Advocates spend six to 10 hours a month volunteering.

Stacey Wiley, volunteer coordinator for the Court Appointed Special Advocates, conducts a training session Saturday in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

"It's not a huge demand on time, but they do need to be dedicated," Nash said. "We're looking for reasonably long-term volunteers. We ask for a commitment of at least a year, but many of the cases last a lot longer than that. So we would love for them to stay on the case until it's over so that the child doesn't have somebody else backing out on them. They've already had people in their lives that they couldn't count on."

Advocates generally handle one child or sibling group at a time, Nash said. Technically a sibling group consists of multiple cases, Nash said, but they try to keep them together, particularly if they live in the same area.

Advocates are given a choice about where and in what types of cases they would prefer to serve. For instance, if a volunteer knows a lot of people in Perry County, he or she may choose to advocate for children in Cape Girardeau County.

"This is an opportunity for them to work with children here in our own area. ... children who are either going to grow up and be successful citizens or maybe stay in that generational [cycle of] child abuse and neglect," Nash said. "We think we can really make a difference there."

In a Friday column at courts.mo.gov, Missouri Chief Justice Mary R. Russell said about 14,000 children are wards of the courts in Missouri. In 2013, Russell wrote, CASA volunteers in the state donated 85,000 hours, helping about 3,300 children in 40 counties.

CASA volunteers filled out a questionnaire for discussion Saturday in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Nash said the local CASA program serves only about a third to a quarter of the 200-plus children in foster care in the 32nd judicial circuit, which covers Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties.

Nash said there are four parts to being an advocate.

• Investigating. After advocates are sworn in, they meet with the child and the child's family, teachers, social workers, "whoever is involved in the life of that child at that point," Nash said. They do this to find out how the child is getting along and what toll the situation has taken on him or her.
• Facilitating. The advocate ensures the children and parents involved are getting what has been ordered by the court, from substance abuse or other counseling to medical care and glasses. Advocates are not allowed to transport the children, but can talk to foster parents and make sure the child's needs are met.

"It's a 'check up on,'" Nash said. "It's not a push or a shove, it's another set of eyes on this child to see that they're getting what they need."

• Advocating. The volunteers submit a written report to judge, children's division, juvenile office and parents. Nash said the reports contain information on what the advocate has seen that they think the judge should be aware of, and a recommendation on whether the child should stay in foster care or return to their parents.

While advocates work with others from the children's division and juvenile officers, Nash said, time is on the advocate's side.

"One thing that our cases can bring to that table that, again, the other people have way too much going on to do, is they can spend the time to bring the focus on that particular child or that particular sibling group so that they can really find out a lot of things that maybe some of the other people don't have time to get into and try to find out."

• Monitoring. Sometimes a case goes on for several years. Advocates stop by, talk to the child, call or text if the child is old enough, just to see how they are doing.

"We do visit at least once a month in person" until the court terminates jurisdiction, Nash said.

CASA volunteers advocate for children up to age 18 as long as they are in the system.

If teens reach 18 and are still in the system, they can choose to stay in if they want to go to college, Nash said, and there are state programs in place to help them get an apartment or get other assistance.

"They can have the supervision that a parent might give" when leaving home, Nash said. "These kids that don't have any parents on the scene, if they walk out at 18, they're on their own. And the statistics for that are horrible, as far as homelessness and unemployment. ... But the state does have those services that will help them."

Because the number of CASA volunteers is limited, the focus now is coming around to teens, Nash said.

"We've realized that some of these kids, the teens that are going to age out of foster care, they really need help as well."

So what is CASA looking for in a volunteer? Nash said all they need is someone who "really cares and really wants to help." The current class consists of a banker, two teachers and two people who work in the medical field; their ages range from early 20s to 50s.

She said while lawyers and social workers are welcome to advocate, the program doesn't specifically look for people in those careers.

"We don't need to do that. We will train them with the things that they need to know," she said.

CASA training classes are held four times a year. For more information, call 335-1726.

kwebster@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

937 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO